87% of clients are willing to pay a premium for an agency with a strong brand (Gartner)

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This means your agency’s brand isn’t some fluffy bullshit stuff you do when things get quiet, it’s lighting the touch paper to grow your reputation and revenue. Bigger clients come with bigger expectations, so they want premium quality across every touchpoint. And you’re only as good as your weakest area, so invest the energy to build your brand properly. This means building internal alignment, then external excitement - not just updating your logo.

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Your agency’s brand consistency can increase revenue by 10-20% (Marq)

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If your agency’s trying to tell a million messages wrapped in a messy brand, you’re losing out on cold hard cash. A clear and consistent brand, from your internal strategy to your external communication has a huge business impact. It’s something agencies are great at doing for other people, but notoriously poor at doing for themselves. Creating a brand book or set of brand guidelines is a great way to stay on track at every turn.

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83% of talent would switch agencies for the same salary if one agency’s brand was better (Gartner)

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So if you feel like your agency’s only attracting the murky depths of the talent pool, maybe your agency’s brand is to blame. Today’s premier talent wants more than just free fruit Fridays and other token perks. They want to be part of something bigger than themselves, and that’s about having an agency brand that stands out and stands for something. So invest in building a whole brand ecosystem that employees are proud to be part of.

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Strong employer branding can increase retention by as much as 28% (LinkedIn)

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Once you’ve found your superstars, you need to keep them. Your agency’s branding is about building a sense of belonging and pride. If everything feels hasty and homemade, your team’s heads will get turned by agencies that have a stronger sense of what they stand for. So get your agency aligned around vision, values, culture, approach etc. Then make this all accessible for current and new team members, because that’s how you cut churn.

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Consistent messaging increases revenue by over 20%. (Marq) 

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Stop trying to say everything, and focus on one main message that people will actually remember. Sure, you might be bored of hearing it but most prospects aren’t. In fact, chances are they haven’t even heard your message, let alone got tired of it. Of course, your agency’s messaging needs to evolve with the market and wider landscape, but a scattergun message means you’re leaving money on the table.

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Communicating personal as well as functional benefits has a 67% impact on brand commitment (Gartner)

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Most agencies are pretty good at describing the functional benefits of working with them; growth, results, ROI etc. But few move onto the personal benefits that actually have a stronger impact. These might be around clarity, confidence, saving time, status etc. The combination of the two has the highest impact on brand commitment. Adding in societal benefits doesn’t add to this commitment, and actually decreases it.

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75% of prospects judge your agency’s credibility based on your website’s design (Stanford Web Credibility Research)

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Low-quality websites tend to generate low-balling prospects. So much of the buying process is digital, from finding potential agencies to validating which ones to shortlist. But still, so many agency websites look cheap and templated, or just identi-kit with all the same gimmicks and buzzwords. For lots of potential clients, your website is their first impression so see it as an investment in winning the work you deserve.

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There you go, your agency’s brand is much more than some naff merch or second-rate stationary. Instead, it’s an investment into growing your agency but it often ends up low on your to-do list. So sometimes the smarter play is to bring in external brand experts who work specifically with agencies like you. Well, this is awkward…

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